INDOOR ROWING NEWSLETTER # 22 ======================= 29-September-2000 ====================== _________________________________________________ C O N T E N T S 1. Olympics 2. Tel's Tales #1 3. Top Tip 4. Heart Rate Monitor 5. Where's the Erg? 6. Tel's Tales #2 7. Red Nose Row 8. Forthcoming Events 9. Colossus of Rhodes 10. Tel's Tales #3 11. Fantasy Rowing Competition _________________________________________________________________ ========================================================= Olympics ========================================================= So. The Olympics. Not much else to be said is there really? After a frankly somewhat dismal showing at the last Games, Britain made a much better fist of it this time around. Sydney has also, of course, seen the final touch added to the legend of Steve Redgrave. The coxless four's victory on the Saturday morning saw him pass into the history books as the greatest endurance athlete of all time. Unless you've been up a tree for the past week or so, you can't fail to have noticed the reams of paper devoted to his achievement and Terry O'Neill gives his own interpretation of it later on in this newsletter. The success of the rest of the British rowing squad doesn't deserve to be overshadowed, however. With a gold in the men's eight and an unlucky placing just outside the medals in the men's coxless pair, it's clear that Britain has the best men's heavyweight sweep rowing squad in the world. A fantastic silver for the women's quad was merely the icing on the cake of one of the best international regattas Britain's enjoyed for a long time. Other indoor rowing enthusiasts involved in the Olympics include decathlete Dean Macey who, although narrowly pipped for a medal after coming back from a horrendous elbow injury, was confident enough to predict he was going to "boss" both the 2004 and 2008 games and sailors Shirley Robertson and Ben Ainslie, who won Britain's seventh and eighth gold medals. Ainslie was nine points behind Scheidt at the start of the final race in the Laser Class and was faced with two options. Either he could go all out to win the race and hope that Scheidt came worse than tenth, or he could attempt to keep Scheidt out of the top 20 in the race altogether. Going with the latter strategy, the race developed into an on-water game of cat and mouse as Ainslie tried desperately to keep Scheidt down the field. Despite a late charge by the Brazilian, Scheidt finished 22nd and with the silver, a reversal of the their positions in the Atlanta games. "It was an amazing race," said Ainslie afterwards. "I had it all to do. My only option was to sail him down. I think I was in the better position though as I had nothing to lose." ========================================================= Tel's Tales #1 ========================================================= Each fortnight, three times Olympic rowing coach Terry O'Neill answers any questions you may have about any aspect of the Indoor Rower. Tel's currently in Banyoles, getting ready for the first ever Indoor Rowing Training Camp (see past newsletters). If he can work out how to use his e- mail, he'll still be able to answer all your queries, so keep 'em coming in to webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk James Reid: "My main dilemma is trying to assess what damper level to use for the 500 metre time trial test proposed by the French Rowing Federation to apply to a 2,000 metre race [see the Indoor Rowing Training Guide for further details). Is there a set method or is it down to trial and error? "In addition are there preferred stroke rates for the phases? At the moment I simply try and blast the 500m and have completed it at 40-44spm and 'blew up' with over 200m to go! Then, at a lower damper setting, I attempted it in phases: starting at 36-38spm for the first 150m then 30spm for the next 200m and I 'blew up' even worse than the first attempt and struggled in marginally slower than before." Terry O'Neill: The damper setting is a question of trial and error but as a rule of thumb bigger, stronger, but slower movers would tend to be at the higher end of the damper setting whilst lighter, faster movers would tend to be at the lower end. As for the stroke rate, for the first ten strokes you can go off as high as you like, then you have to settle to the highest sustainable stroke rate. The key is to find a solid rhythm that carries you along. One of the things to be avoided in a 500m burst is to overload the front end of the stroke. What this means is you have to feel the pick up of the flywheel speed and accelerate it rather than hitting the beginning of the stroke. It could be that it's a lack of technique that's your problem. If you do hit the beginning you will create such a load that you won't be able to accelerate and eventually you will blow up. Because 2,000m is the normal distance, psychologically people tend to underestimate the physical demands of 500m, which is equivalent in time to an 800m run and definitely not a sprint. ========================================================= Top Tip ========================================================= As ever, the way forward is shown by the A-Team. Whenever they were locked up in a firework warehouse by the villain, never once would they despair. Instead, Mr T would fire up an oxy- acetylene torch and, using whatever material was to hand, fashion a simple yet elegant solution. Obviously inspired by this, former lightweight 70-79 world champion and indoor rowing legend Harry Welsh reveals an invaluable device he's created for long-distance rowing… Harry Welsh: "Though it is an accepted physiological fact that fluid intake during training is essential, the usual, and understandable practice is to take in fluid during rest breaks or intervals. This is fine if the work is based on short periods of energy output, but, a different situation arises when undertaking a timed distance row, where continuous rowing is of paramount importance. "Here there would be the possibility that a drink would be taken prior to and after completion of the row. My wife once tried giving me a beaker of water during a row; spluttering, coughing, giggling and drenched, I had to stop. The other alternative was to place a bottle of fluid close to hand and adopt the 'grab and gulp' technique. Often in the haste to continue the bottle gets knocked. After a bottle of diluted blackcurrant juice was spread over the carpet, necessity became the mother of invention. "Obviously, the 'grab and gulp' method is not a sound physiological practice, as the fluid intake would have a more beneficial effect if sipped slowly and consistently throughout the distance row, assuming that there had been a good fluid intake at least twenty minutes prior to the row. Another mitigating factor against the 'grab and gulp' is the loss of rhythm, essential for a relaxed smooth row. Invariably precious seconds are lost, resulting in a series of 'catch up' pulls in order to re- establish the average split. This annoying loss of rhythm and time could induce a rower to abstain from fluid intake during the row. A point worth remembering is that though dehydrating is occurring you may not necessarily feel thirsty; rehydration is vital for a good performance. "The following method of surmounting the problem has been adopted by me for many years. Three basic items were utilised. (1) A two metre length of windscreen wiper tubing. (2) A cyclist's bottle carrier and bottle. (3) A biro pen top, with pocket clip the full length of the top. "The seal of the bottle and the biro top are drilled to fit the tubing. One end of the tubing inserts into the bottle, the other passes through the biro top. The bottle carrier is attached to the rear of the Rower. I drilled and bolted the carrier to the back plate. Other methods can be used such as strapping and velcro. I have a spare carrier screwed to chip board and fitted with magnets and side retaining pieces to use on any 'away' Rower. A simpler and cheaper system is to take an empty squash bottle and drill or puncture the top to slide in the tubing. Then tie or strap the bottle to the back of the rower. The tubing passes under the arm with the biro top clipped to your vest. Leave 8/9 inches of tubing free above the biro top. "A one-way valve is very useful, but not essential. One can be purchased through the cycle industry, however I designed one of my own. Take a 2" piece of tubing, that will fit snugly over the feed tube. Stitch a web of nylon thread halfway across the middle to form a barrier. Drop a small non-metallic bead inside, and then insert a small piece of the feed tube in the end, leaving enough space for the bead to move freely up and down. The barrier prevents the feed tube being blocked, then drops to seal off the back flow. Fit the other end of the valve onto the feed tube. "When not in use, ensure that the end of the tube is kept higher than the bottle, or you have a very wet floor. Some form of plug for the end is advisable for when the tube is not clipped to the vest. Have your first drink on me." These are the words of indoor rowing enthusiast Harry Welsh. The newsletter accepts no responsibility for accidents which may occur in the workshop or the Rower. So if you spill OJ all over your carpet, don't come crying to us. If you've got a Top Tip which you think could be of interest to other indoor rowers, send it in to webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk ========================================================= Heart Rate Monitors ========================================================= Plug: 1: A piece used to fill a hole 2: A flat compressed cake of tobacco 3: A male fitting for making an electrical connection to a live circuit by insertion in a receptacle 4: A piece of favourable publicity or a favourable mention usually incorporated in general matter Yup it's time for definition four. As stage three of our masterplan to become bigger than Sainsbury's and rule the retail world (Stage one: set up e-Commerce site. Stage two: practice evil cackle) we've added the Polar range of heart rate monitors to our web site. As Tel's frequently pointed out in his Tel's Tales column, heart rate training is the best and most accurate way to train. The Polar range starts at a mighty cheap 39.99 pounds for the basic Polar Beat and runs all the way up to 159.99 pounds for the deluxe M71TI – so great it doesn't even need a snappy name. The C2Shop: http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/merchandise.php3 - have a nice day now. ========================================================= Where's the Erg? ========================================================= Launched in a blaze of glory after a sighting on Vets in Practice, Where's The Erg is our attempt to save us from splashing out for a media monitoring company by having you do all the work. All you've got to do is write in with your sightings of the ever so 'umble Indoor Rower or DYNO. This newsletter, reader Mike Crossley claims to have spotted two in Buckingham Palace, and has supplied us with photographic evidence as proof. Check out our (new!) News page at http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/news.htm to judge for yourself whether he's telling the truth. Keep those sightings coming in to: webmaster@vermonthouse.co.uk ========================================================= Tel's Tales #2 ========================================================= "One of the problems about news reporting, especially in the tabloid press is that the editors never feel that the story is interesting enough to hold our attention without embellishment. Often this leads to the most tenuous links like "FERGIE'S NANNY SOUGHT IN MURDER CASE". When you go on to read the article it turns out that some bloke has been found dead, his girlfriend has disappeared and that in the dark distant past she worked for the Duchess of York, which of course has nothing to do with the fact that she may or may not have murdered her boyfriend. What is even more worrying is that if there had not been this tenuous link then the story would not have even reached the papers. So murder is less newsworthy than having been a part time nanny for Fergie. So imagine my amazement when I opened up the Sun and found four full pages of coverage of Steve Redgrave. For once the magnitude of his achievement was obvious even to the editor of The Sun newspaper. "Since that magnificent race in the early hours of Saturday morning, Steve Redgrave has dominated the sporting press, making him a household name. It's ironic that the recognition he so richly deserves has come at the end of his outstanding sporting career. He has banished the likes of Coultard, Woods and Beckham to the stop press columns, but they won't mind too much being sporting millionaires whilst the greatest athlete this country has ever produced faces an uncertain future. "If instead of winning five Olympic gold medals Steve had just won one stage of the Tour De France, financially he would have been made for life such are the vagaries of modern sport. I have known Steve well since he was a schoolboy from Great Marlow School and I was coaching within the national junior programme. Since he started rowing he has rowed with many other superb athletes but, while they have always had one eye on a career and left the sport to take them up, Steve has been single minded and completely focused on just winning. There was a point when the struggle to make ends meet almost drove him to call it a day when, at the last moment, the insurance company Lombard stepped in and he was able to carry on. For the last three years there has been lottery funding for our elite athletes but when they stop, it stops. I know that Steve would not have given one thought beyond the race in Sydney. Such is the way of the man that to allow his mind to wonder onto anything other than winning the race he would consider draining him of vital energy and jeopardize victory. "Six and a half million people stayed up to watched the race live (not bad for a non spectator sport at 12.30am), and they witnessed this quiet family man from Marlow create sporting history. For five and three quarter minutes we were all in that boat, heart beat racing, willing the boat over the finish line in front of the fast closing Italians." ========================================================= Red Nose Row ========================================================= A couple of weeks ago, the Red Nose Row was a teeny-tiny snowball on the top of a mountain. Now, however, in some sort of amusing Looney Toons scenario it's rolling downhill, growing in size all the time and quite possibly threatening to squash Wile E. Coyote at the bottom. There are now nine fitness chains who have signed up for the Red Nose Row, (big breath: LA Fitness, David Lloyd, Holmes Place, Tweed Park, Leisure Connection, Healthland, Dragons Health Club, Queen Moat Houses, Esporta) meaning that there are over 400 clubs throughout the country whose gates you can stroll in and say "Tell me about the Million Metre Challenge my good fellow and make it snappy". At the moment there are nearly a hundred people taking part via the On- Line World Ranking (http://www.e-row.com/ranking/home.asp) and already Douglas Adair of Mirfield in West Yorkshire has got himself onto the 250,000 metre honour board. If you want to find out more information about the Red Nose Row and/or the Million Metre Challenge, pop along to http://www.concept2.co.uk/rnr/index.html where you're also able to order a free copy of our Action Pack, which as well as a 16 page booklet also contains the six spiffy stickers which are supplanting Pokemon cards from the affection of the nation's schoolchildren. ========================================================= Forthcoming Events ========================================================= Before we get on to those, just a quick note to say that the calendar section of our web site (http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/calendar.htm) has been updated so it now has all the European race dates for the forthcoming season on as well. Remember: if you're organizing an event, heavens to Betsy please try and tell us about it beforehand (so we can stick it on our calendar and in the newsletter) and also get the results to us as quickly as possible afterwards. Anyway: Steve Redgrave Supersprint Challenge: 14th October: Eton College, Windsor Steve's homecoming event, the Supersprint Challenge sees some of the world's fastest rowers racing off over 350 metres. Also features a one minute indoor rowing challenge, open to all comers. As you may be able to guess, this event promises to be big, Big, BIG. Check out http://www.su-ro.com for details. Marie Curie Indoor Rowing Challenge: 29th October: Thornton Sports Centre, Wyre, Lancs. Charity event featuring 2,000m, 5,000m, 10,000m races. Contact lfenton@mariecurie.org.uk for more details. BluRed Indoor Rowing Championship: 5th November: Edgehill College, Bideford, North Devon Fourth annual championship. 2000 metre race. Contact jjewell@tycoelectronics.com for more details. Irish Indoor Rowing Championship: 18th November: Sportslink Leisure Centre, Santry, Dublin. First Irish National Championship. Contact IIRC@eircom.net for details or check out http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/irish_champ_r.htm British Indoor Rowing Championships: 26th November: Rivermead Leisure Complex, Reading THE race of the year. Contact birc@vermonthouse.co.uk for details or visit http://www.concept2.co.uk/v4/brit_champ_r.htm ========================================================= Colossus of Rhodes ========================================================= According to yer man John Keats, autumn was the season of mist and mellow fruitfulness. If he'd hung around a bit longer he'd have probably stuck in a verse or two about it being one of endurance rowing travails. After Martin Surrey's recent attempt to row a million metres in 10 days, Yeovil fitness training and indoor rowing nut Neil Rhodes is having a crack at completing the distance in nine (see, a million metres in six months is definitely do-able). Neil's hoping to raise a million pounds for charity by getting every single metre sponsored, and to help him achieve this he'll be doing all his rowing in public venues. If you're in the area at the time and fancy supporting him in his mad challenge, you can find him at: Mon Oct 2nd ----- Brighton Royal Sussex Hospital Tues Oct 3rd ----- American Express Wed Oct 4th ----- Brighton Thistle Hotel Thurs Oct 5th ----- David Lloyd - Brighton Marina Fri Oct 6th ----- Riptide Health Club Sat Oct 7th ----- Churchill Square Shopping Centre Sun Oct 8th ----- Asda - Brighton Marina Mon Oct 9th ----- Asda - Hollingbury Tues Oct 10th ----- To Be Confirmed ========================================================= Tel's Tales #3 ========================================================= A question from Jamie Meeks: "In the last newsletter you said: 'Losing weight through exercise alone is really inefficient and requires loads of training. Training at 65% of your Maximum Heart Rate means that the majority of the fuel you are burning is fat but you are burning so little fuel that you need to spend hours at that intensity to do any good. The next thing is that it is not the stored fat around your middle that you are burning but dietary fat. So if you can only train 4 times a week you are better off training at a much higher intensity, say 85% of MHR.' "You state that only dietary fat is being burnt as opposed to the fat around the waistline. Why is this and what is the difference in dietary and stored fat? Is this related to the training intensity or the fact that the individual is not 'dieting'? Surely the increased calorie expenditure above a state of normal (i.e. no exercise) would equal stored fat to be burnt as fuel, although there would be less fat reduction than if reducing food intake as well." Terry O'Neill: The difference between dietary fat and stored fat is whether the fat is still in the digestive system or concealed somewhere about your person. Dietary fat is the more readily available fuel. When you exercise, depending on the intensity, the fuel will be carbohydrates for high intensity and a mixture of carbohydrates and fat at low intensity. The maximum percentage of fat in energy consumption is 60%. Fat recently ingested and in the digestive system is easier to metabolise than fat that has been stored around the body. As a rule of thumb, dietary fat will supply around 40 minutes of low intensity exercise and it is for this reason that using exercise alone is a very inefficient way to lose weight. If you train for one hour you have only been working with stored fat for around twenty minutes. Fat provides twice the calories of fuel than carbohydrates, 9kcal/gram to 4.3kcal/gram. In twenty minutes, therefore, you will only burn a couple of grams of fat. The advantages of a higher intensity regime are that the rate of burning calories is far higher, and even if the percentage of fat in the fuel is lower, you will burn more calories. Secondly, you get the added advantage of overrun. What this means is that the higher intensity work has hoisted up the metabolism which stays up for some time after the exercise has stopped and continues to burn off the calories. If the calories you consume are less than the calories you burn then you will lose weight. As I have explained, fat is a high-energy fuel packed with calories and what's more, easily stored about the body. Carbohydrates on the other hand can only be stored in limited quantities, about 450 grams in the muscles and 150 grams in the liver, anymore than this in the diet passes straight through. You say you have put on weight. This means you are taking on board more calories than you are consuming. Yes, if you go from doing nothing to doing something you will burn more calories but all this may do is reduce the rate at which you put on fat. As men get older their body fat increases naturally and this is another factor in the equation. Time to bite the bullet Jamie old son, do what I told you or buy a new wardrobe. ========================================================= Fantasy Rowing Competition ========================================================= After a tremendous response, the results of our British Olympic Fantasy Rowing Competition can now be revealed. The winner, who takes home a brand new Indoor Rower, is John Urry; second place and proud new owner of a set of Concept 2 Slides is Philip Houlston while the third place prize of a Polar Smart Edge Heart Rate Monitor goes to Steve Hall. ____________________________________________F E E D B A C K Like what you read? Dislike what you read? Stories, anecdotes or ideas for future Newsletters? 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